By J.D. O’Gara

Jami Pandiscio, a Franklin resident, and senior at UConn, recently won the 12th Annual Project Yellow Light scholarship competition for her billboard design.

Project Yellow Light empowers high school and college students to create unique PSAs that raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and promote safer driving habits. Given that car crashes rank among the leading causes of death for teenagers and young adults in the U.S., this initiative strives to significantly prevent such tragedies. 

Project Yellow Light’s inception came after Hunter Garner’s passing in 2007. His family, Julie, Lowell, and Alex Garner, in loving memory of Hunter, established the Hunter Garner Scholarship.

Jami’s 2023 winning entry, chosen from over 2,600 submissions from all 50 states and D.C., was “Don’t Scroll. Stay in Control. Don’t Drive Distracted.”

“I wanted to focus more on social media,” says Jami, “I feel like the word ‘scroll’ embodies everything of Tik Tok and Instagram. I think, for my age group, social media is more prevalent than just texting on iMessage, because there’s so many different platforms on social media.” The word “control,” worked well for meaning and rhyme, she adds.

Pandiscio learned about Project Yellow Light from her brother, Kyle, five years older. He won the competition several years ago, with his “Park Your Phone” submission. 

“I had the opportunity to go to Times Square to see his billboard reveal,” says Pandiscio, “and I just thought that it was so inspiring to see his design come to life across the country. Project Yellow Light is such a great cause, and I wanted to get involved.”

Not only has Jami has been involved; she’s actually won before. She first entered the scholarship competition in high school in 2020. 

“I actually won the competition in high school as well when I was 18,” says Jami. The winning message at that time was “Eyes on the Road, not Your Phone.” “I used the eyes emoji and the phone emoji, so it was more visually appealing,” says Jami. She didn’t get to attend her own billboard reveal that year because of COVID-19. “But this year I got to go,” says Pandiscio. “I went in June. It was so cool!”

Jami’s out-of-home winning display will be featured on over 1,700 U.S. displays, in the Boston metro area, provided by Clear Channel Outdoor through the end of this year. 

The $2000 scholarship Jami will receive will help pay for her last year at UConn. After graduation, she hopes to stick with the Seaport Boston-based software company for which she interned this summer. Winning the contest was a positive experience.

“I was absolutely shocked when I won, because it was the second time,” says Jami. “I just never thought I’d get the opportunity to do it all over again. It’s just honestly been one of the most rewarding experiences, being part of this community.”

“Thanks to the creativity of these students and our partners’ support, we are making a difference by reducing the number of crashes caused by distracted driving,” said Project Yellow Light Founder, Julie Garner.

This year’s entries were judged by a number of advertising industry executives and artists who lent their time to support this scholarship competition. The panel for this year included recording artist and songwriter Aloe Blacc; renowned filmmaker and social activist Kweku Mandela; Wendy Clark, Partner at The Consello Group; Wordsworth + Booth President Tony Mennuto; Co-Chairman and Partner of Goodby Silverstein & Partners Jeff Goodby; award-winning poet, songwriter, and author IN-Q; and representatives from The Martin Agency, Organic and Project Yellow Light partners.